OF THE GRIPER. J 01 



Again, should they continue to hold us, we 1824. 

 feared by the ship's complaining so much for- Sept, 

 ward, that the bitts would be torn up, or that 

 she would settle down at her anchors, over- 

 powered by some of the tremendous seas 

 which burst over her. 



During the whole of this time, streams of 

 heavy ice continued to drive down upon us, 

 any of which, had it hung for a moment against 

 the cables, would have broken them, and at the 

 same time have allowed the bowsprit to pitch 

 on it and be destroyed. The masts would 

 have followed this, for we were all so ex- 

 hausted, and the ship was so coated with ice, 

 that nothing could have been done to save 

 them. 



We all lay down at times during the night, 

 for to have remained constantly on deck 

 would have quite overpowered us ; I constantly 

 went up, and shall never forget the desolate 

 picture which was always before me. 



The hurricane blew with such violence as 

 to be perfectly deafening ; and the heavy wash 

 of the sea made it difficult to reach the main- 

 mast, where the officer of the watch and his 

 people sat shivering, completely cased in frozen 

 snow, under a small tarpaulin, before which 

 ropes wxre stretched to preserve them in their 



